In a world replete with media networks, content and services delivered through traditional and newer wired and wireless environments, the opportunities for access to, and participation in, media are seemingly proliferative. The accessible and inclusive nature of media is often emphasised and celebrated strongly by commercial players and governmental interests, as well as a considerable number of academic voices. Others, hailing from academia and civil society quarters, whilst recognising the accessibility and participative affordances of media environments, also point to serious deficiencies. Whilst some endorse strongly the ease of access and participation in media environments driven by commerciality, others point to a perceived devaluation of public service media of various kinds. Whilst some herald the existence of diversity of supply of content and point to a plurality of voices engaged in rich, vibrant and challenging exchange, others are concerned by a lack of variety of content beyond the mainstream, as well as the latter’s marginalisation despite network expansion. Whilst some are enthused by the increased creative agency that the digital landscape affords media users, others are critical of the imbalanced power structures within participatory cultures that typically result in media corporations exploiting users' labour. The increased technological sophistication and capability of easily accessible media environments celebrated by some, stands in contrast to concerns over network security, including covert intrusion into, and surveillance of, online mediatised environments leading to concerns over the quality of participatory life in a mediatised world. Yet again, the activism of a wealth of civil society groups and other alternative voices to the ‘mainstream’ - arts organisations, those campaigning for participative rights of various kinds; and media industry reform campaigners to mention but a few - points to uneasiness with the idea of a fully accessible and participative media system, as well the role and potential of these voices as agents for change.